Retail Store 1 is located in a local mall. The position that they wanted to interview me for was a part time “Beauty Consultant” position. Basically I would be selling make-up and face products. The interview started out one of the floor managers asking me a bunch of standard questions, such as: when was a time you went above and beyond to help a customer? and how do you work in a team setting? I’ve had retail experience before and experience selling products, so I thought I was doing pretty decent. I also used my aquatic ecology experience with the team questions (maybe working on a lake made me more memorable!).

About 20 minutes into the interview, the interviewer asked me what position I was interviewing for because a make-up question was on her list. I answered her, and she asked if I was interested in working full time. I said yes (those student loans aren’t going to pay for themselves!). She said that she had a position open in women’s clothing and began talking about what it was like to work there. Apparently I was doing better than I thought. In fact, at one point she said she wasn’t going to let the beauty consultant manager talk to me. She then said that she couldn’t give me an offer until I talked to her boss. Her boss came in and continued to describe what the job was like and she said she would get in touch with me later.

Retail Store 2 was also at the same mall as Retail Store 1. This store was similar to Retail Store 1, but targeted a wealthier group. The interview was at 11, so I arrived at 10:50. I ended up waiting until 11:45 to interview. I was a little annoyed by then, but I said I was still interested in interviewing when the manager came out. She asked questions similar to Retail Store 1 and described the position to me. She then had me read a 5 page description of the job and asked if I wanted to do the second interview immediately after the first one. I then interviewed with a person from HR and they said they would contact me within the week.

State University was interested in interviewing me for a field season job. It was an avian ecology position. The interviewer was the graduate student who was in charge of the project. She talked about the project and what the position would involve. She then asked questions about my field experience and my experience doing bird work.

My first job choice would be the avian ecology position. Even though it paid the least, it had pretty consistent hours (sunrise – 2ish, 6 days/wk). Also, because the job is based out of my neighborhood I could walk/bike/bus and not get a car. I like the idea of working at a job where I could use my education, and if I didn’t get into graduate school, I could add this to my application for next year. My second choice is Retail Store 1. I liked the people I talked to a lot, and they seemed really willing to work around my tutoring schedule.

Retail Store 3 was my last choice. The people seemed nice, but their expectations for the position seemed a bit unrealistic. The store seemed to be completely empty when I interviewed and I wondered how on earth I was supposed to sell things without customers. Also, I was a bit uncomfortable with the dress code. Women were not allowed to wear pants, only skirts or dresses with pantyhose. I don’t like skirts or dresses and I would have to purchase a bunch of clothing to work here. However, if this store offered me a job and the others didn’t, I would still take the job.

The bird position turned me down. I wasn’t really surprised at this. Before the interview, I felt like I was the most qualified for this position compared to the retail positions. However, I felt like I did the poorest at this interview and it is likely they found a person who had bird research experience. I never heard back from Retail Store 2, but got an offer from Retail Store 1.

I took the Retail Store 1 position and begin training today. I’m still working out the details on how I am going to tutor and work full time at Retail Store 1. Also, the boyfriend and I are now looking for another car, since it is going to be impossible for both of us to work full time with just one.

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About myscientificlife

Welcome to myscientificlife!
I recently completed my undergrad at State University. I am currently taking a year off of school and applying to graduate schools. This lovely blog is mostly about my journey towards grad school and other things I find interesting, such as food, podcasts, and books. Probably mostly food.
You can reach me at myscientificlife@gmail.com.